Meet the Chatterboxes

Meet Mr. and Little Miss Chatterbox. Aren't they adorable??

I knew it was only a matter of time until it happened. Princess has always been a talker. I have no idea where she gets it from ;) It's incredible and fun, unless you're in a hurry, are trying to focus on a task, or are at a wedding/baptism/anywhere where chatter isn't incredibly appropriate at the moment (though she's very quiet about it, and I know that asking her to not talk for 45 minutes, I might as well be asking her to hold her breath as well). But she's excellent company. Most of the time the chatter is because she's excited about something, or asking really interesting questions. Sometimes it's just flat out amusing. Sometimes it's ironic (like interrupting me no less than 8 times during tonight's story, Little Miss Chatterbox). But her extensive vocabulary and inquisitive mind makes for great companionship during the day!

Tobes was a late talker (in comparison to Princess, though she had a massive vocabulary pretty early on), but was a definite babbler. Again, totally adorable, though less-so when it was in the backseat of the car while you're trying to find an address and have both children attempting to talk over one another. It started out with babbles while he found his voice, but it wasn't long until you could tell he was interacting with us through babble - he looked at our eyes, gestured, and changed his tones throughout "conversation".

Well, now Tobes has a vocabulary. It's incredible how much it's exploded over just the past week, let alone the past month. He's been saying "Mama" for awhile now, and then used "yup!" to help us discern his points and grunts. But talking really started when he said "nuh-nuh" about a month ago (maybe a month and a half? I have it written in his baby book), and now about 40 words come to mind currently, including names of his sister and his best friend, as well as collections of words like "I don't want to" (which I count as a 4 syllable word as opposed to a sentence because he doesn't use any of those words independently... And he copied it directly from Princess, attitude and all). He now uses babble to fill-in spaces in sentences (like "babblebabblebabble living room" is him asking if he can eat in the living room), and this past week he's started to make REAL sentences, like "More apple please"! It's so awesome how quickly this has all happened in the last month or so! He's asking for things, answering us, but he's also just trying to strike up conversations (like laughing at the TV, then turning around to one of us and saying "Oh Binoo!")

As much as it drives me a little batty sometimes (my life is just never quiet), I love all the things Princess and I talk about, and all the conversations she and I have. I love the questions she asks, and the hilarious things that come out of her mouth sometimes. I almost cried the first time Tobes called Princess' name (*sob*), and I am SO excited to have similar interactions with Tobes. I'm excited for him to join in with conversations over dinner (not that he doesn't now, but it will be exciting when he becomes easier to decipher). And I'm excited for the first time he says "I love you" to us, especially Princess. She frequently tells him she loves him, I know it will make all our hearts melt when he first says it back.

I just might never have a moment of peace again... And I'm ok with that. Mostly.

Easter Bunny vs Santa Claus

I actually looked for an image to represent the topic in my post, but there were a LOT of disturbing images out there!! :S

This year was the first Easter that we got to spend at home in a long time. Easter means a long-weekend, and time off for Hubbyman is precious (he gets lots of vacation time, but between holidays and family trips and staycations it can be used up quick!) so we often use the opportunity to go visit his family who are sprawled out across western Canada. This year we didn't. This year we stayed at home. His brothers came up to visit us, which was nice, and we celebrated my baby sister's 22nd birthday, which was also awesome. But this year we actually got to attend our own church's Easter service, and got to build more traditions at home.

I yearn for traditions. I had some great ones growing up, and I want to pass them down to my own children. Some we have (like spending Christmas Eve at my dad's, or Christmas morning at home), and some we're still working on, which is ok as well.

Easter is a really important holiday to us. While I LOVE the Christmas season and absolutely call Christmas my favorite holiday, Easter is more significant. It's the difference between the ultimate gift, and the ultimate sacrifice.

Before our kids were born, Hubbyman and I talked a lot, and prayed a lot about what we did and did not want to do with our kids. We talked about Santa, and the Easter Bunny, and the tooth fairy, and so on, but now that the kids are here we find ourselves dealing with the concrete, versus the "someday". We're figuring out Santa and honestly didn't intend on having the Easter Bunny at all, but I didn't realize Tara would know/hear so much about him! She would mention him casually when we talked about Easter, and she would talk about coloring eggs and hiding them. We were faced with how to deal with this. Do we allow Santa, but tell her the Easter Bunny doesn't exist? Do we tell her that it's all pretend? Can we balance out the fun of Easter egg hunts and baskets with the solemness of the Holiday?

We've decided to allow the Easter Bunny, but like Santa, his role is severely limited and under parental control. We kept the focus on the spiritual and religious aspects of the Holiday this year. We went to church, and we gave thanks during our family prayer time, and we talked to the kids about what really happened at Easter, though keeping it as age-appropriate as possible. Friday night, after church, we did dye eggs and talked to the kids about what they learned that night (well, that was more for Princess, as Tobes is less than 2) and who Jesus was. Sunday morning the kids did wake to find Easter baskets (the smallest I could find! *lol* Tara got 2 sets of pretty hair stuff, and a new nailpolish. Tobes got a new truck), and the Easter Bunny left a few chocolate eggs hidden around our front room. But at breakfast the focus of the conversation was more on had happened millenniums ago, and why we celebrate Easter.

While I wish we could have had a better head start on our Easter traditions, it really wasn't possible until now, but I think we're starting to lay a pretty good foundation down for them.

What are your thoughts around Easter? Are you pro/con Easter Bunny? Also, do you have any great resources for kids in regards to it? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Eeee!

This is the hotel we'll be staying at, all decked out!!

I still can't believe it's real. I still can't believe that we're actually going to Disneyland. It's booked, passport photos have been taken, and now all I need to do is eventually get my butt down to the passport office to actually get everything in. Then, the waiting game.

We're hoping to keep this all a surprise from them. I still talk in front of the kids about it, but I'm trying to quit (and I haven't done details in awhile, like using the actual name). But realistically, I need to stop. Thankfully they seem to have no idea (Princess isn't asking any questions. Princess ALWAYS ask questions), and there's 8 months for them to forget anything they've heard ;)

Now we're toying with how to tell them. I've been pinning a bunch of ideas for the park in general, and I've found some really cute countdowns (I also may or may not have a countdown on my computer that's down to the hour...)

But here's what we're toying with right now...

Option 1: Hubbyman goes away, a LOT. We will often drive him to the airport. We could get the kids up and dressed, thinking that we're driving daddy to the airport. Park the car, and open the back to reveal their luggage, all packed, backpacks for the plane, and tell them we're going WITH Daddy, and we're going to DISNEYLAND!! (with the video camera on, of course ;))

Option 2: We'll have to leave the house SUPER-early (like SUPER super-early), so it might be fun to kind of charge in when we wake them up and surprise them that way... But then again, they'll be super groggy, and it might be more confusing that surprising...

Only 35 weeks until our trip!!!